Arrows of Promise (Kingmakers Book 2) (12 page)

Rich took a good look at the wizard, eyes flying wide with
alarm. “What happened?”

“He just collapsed. Overworked, belike.”

One of the traits of a guardsman was to be quick on the
uptake. Rich took one look at the situation and asked the rowers, “Have you got
a good grip on him? Can you manage it all the way to the castle?”

“We can,” several assured him all at once.

“Then I’ll clear a path.” Rich stepped around them and to
the front, acting as a trail blazer, and bellowed in an ear-splitting voice,
“MOVE! MAKE WAY!”

People were startled by the abrupt order, and their heads
turned about as they tried to pinpoint the source. It took Rich yelling twice
more before they finally understood and obeyed the instruction. They split to
either side of the street, leaving a swath in the middle clear, and it was only
then that they could move at more than a shuffling pace.

Riana was acutely aware of time crawling past, like ants
across her skin, and she hated it. When the castle finally came in sight, she
felt like throwing her hands up in victory.

“Riana!” Broden’s voice came out over the crowd clearly.

Her head snapped around. “Da!” Waving an arm above her head,
she gave him a clear indication of where to go in case he hadn’t spotted her
yet.

Broden obviously did see her in the crowd as he made a
beeline for her, brows drawn together tightly in worry. “Daughter. What
happened?”

“Ash be working on the mine when they hit a bad patch of
air,” she explained quickly, her eyes roving around, looking for Ashlynn. “Only
he did no’ awake like the others. I be thinking, it had nothing to do with the
bad air, it just be exhaustion on his part. Belike more. He be shivering hard.”

“Aye, that I see.” Broden slung the bow and quiver off and
handed them to her as he said to the rowers, “Good work, lads, and thank ye.
Hand the lad over now, I be taking him the rest of the way.”

Not one man there questioned it, never mind that it had
taken three to carry Ash this far and there was only one of Broden. They just handed
him to Broden, helping to arrange him over his back, Ash’s arms dangling over
Broden’s shoulders. The archer hefted him like he was a heavy sack and then set
a quick pace for the palace.

The rowers hovered for a moment before heading back for the
docks, but Rich remained, still acting as a fore-guard and shoving people out
of the way so that Broden had a clear path.

Riana wasn’t surprised by this show of strength. Her father
had always been much stronger than the average man. She just kept pace and
asked, “Where be Ashlynn?”

“Lass said something about it likely being magical
exhaustion, or depletion, or some sort of thing. Said she knew what to do and I
was to take the lad straight to his rooms.”

That was a relief. Although Riana wouldn’t breathe easy
until she saw color return to Ash’s face and he stopped shaking.

Ashlynn met them at the side door of the castle. She took
one look at her brother’s face and ordered Broden grimly, “Get him into bed.
I’ll take care of the rest.”

Broden heaved Ash into the bed and stepped back, not knowing
what else to do, and waited for his partner’s orders. Ash lay as still as the
living dead, not so much as twitching, just breathing shallowly.

From the way that Ashlynn moved, it was clear that she did
know what to do. She was efficient, not a movement wasted, as she set lavender
oil on his feet and hands. Tucking him back firmly under the blanket, she then
went to his chest and put a hand firmly against it, mirroring the movement by
putting a hand to her own heart. She spoke four distinct words, the syllables
hard and crunched, and then waited.

Broden couldn’t really see anything but he could certainly
feel it. Ashlynn was like a burning light to him, a strong presence that he
could feel even in a dead sleep. That very power was slowly draining out of
her, weakening her presence in his mind. If not for the fact that she was in
control of this and was clearly doing it of her own will, it would have alarmed
him. Even knowing, it alarmed him. It was clear what she was doing—transferring
some of her magical power over to her twin.

Riana hovered at the foot of the bed and he glanced at her,
finding her drawn and worried. As the power was transferred, however, her tight
expression eased a hair and she breathed easier. Broden couldn’t feel it, but
she did, as her partner gained strength.

“Riana,” Ashlynn asked quietly, “how does he feel to you
now?”

“Tired, aye, but no’ drained as before.”

Ashlynn withdrew her hand, the gesture lank as if she had no
more energy of her own. “I’ll stop here, then. We’ll monitor him and see if I
need to do this again later.”

Riana’s eyes were fixated on Ash. “Be it that dangerous.” It
wasn’t a question.

“It could have killed him. Fool,” Ashlynn said despairingly.
“Why did he think he could do it all? Why did we think he could?”

Why indeed. Broden knew that they had more problems than
solutions most days. Certainly they had a shortage of manpower and more than
one person in Estole was juggling three hats. But even then, was there no other
way to protect the people than to work a good man into the ground like this?

He sensed it more than saw it, the moment when Ashlynn’s
exhaustion caught up with her. Broden
moved
, crossing the few feet of
distance between them in a split second, his arms out and catching her just as
her balance faltered and she started falling backwards. Ashlynn hit his chest
with a soft
ooph
of sound, hands coming up automatically to grab hold of
him.

Riana was two seconds behind and stopped when she realized
that her father had it covered. Her eyes took in Ashlynn from head to toe in a
shrewd study. “Belike Ash no’ be the only one overworked.”

“Aye, daughter, ye be right on that.” Broden just tried to
keep up with Ashlynn most of the time and he could feel the tug of exhaustion
on his own coat tails.

Ashlynn was tired enough not to fight his grip, just stayed
leaning against him. He got a better hold on her and led her out of the room
and into the little sitting parlor outside of it, settling her into a chair near
the fireplace. “Lass, sit and rest.”

“I will, but we can’t tarry for long here.” Ashlynn’s eyes
were at half-mast as she said this, clearly on the verge of falling asleep.

“Lass, do ye no’ trust yer people?” he chided her. “They can
manage for half a day. Rest. Else who will take care of ye when ye collapse
like Ash?”

She took his point although from the pout on her face, she
didn’t like it. “If the city burns down around our ears, I will blame you.”

“Aye, ye do that.” He grinned at her in amusement. Fussy
like a child, this one, about taking a nap. Foolishness, that. Naps were always
a welcome joy to adults and one that not many got to indulge in.

In ten seconds, she was fast asleep. Riana went and fetched
a blanket, covering her, then stepped back and drew her father out to the
balcony so they could talk without waking either wizard. Even then she kept her
voice low. “Da. I think it be time we press matters.”

“About getting more wizards here?” he asked, sure they were
talking about the same topic, but making certain regardless. “Aye. That be a
sound notion. I be willing to hunt up Edvard and bend the man’s ear, if ye wish
to stay and watch over the two of them.”

“I will,” she consented, already shooing him toward the
door.

Broden went.

Being the middle of the day like this, it was quite the hunt
to track down his king. Edvard was not one for sitting still after all. He was
constantly on the move, working through problems, listening to people, and
trying to sort through things before it become too huge of a situation. Broden
finally tracked him down just outside the castle, in the main shopping
district, speaking to several business owners all at once.

“—don’t see why you can’t set up shops in both places, if
you have family or friends you trust enough to start up a branch and run it in
the settlement,” Edvard was saying to what looked like a clothier, a mercantile
owner, and two shoemakers. (Broden was sure he was right as they had different
pieces of their merchandise still in hand or pinned to their aprons.) “It’s not
lack of land over there, it’s more a lack of business and people.”

One of the shoemakers asked cautiously, “The land’s free?”

“The land’s free,” Edvard assured him, tone suggesting he’d
said this at least a dozen times before. “You just have to fund building the
business and putting product into the store.”

The clothier scratched at his chin, eyes narrowed in shrewd
calculation. “Mighty generous of you, Your Majesty.”

Edvard’s mouth twisted up in a grimace of a smile. “Not at
all. I’ve run out of room to put people here. I’ve got to convince them to move
over the channel, otherwise we’ll be filled to bursting soon. But my generosity
does have a time limit. I can only do this until winter hits, and then everyone
who’s here is stuck here until spring. Wouldn’t you prefer to have elbow room
between you and your neighbors throughout the winter?”

The mercantile owner muttered something under his breath
that sounded like “
I certainly would.”

Edvard turned his head and caught Broden standing nearby,
waiting for him to finish. A frown passed over his face before he turned back
to the owners and said, “Think about it. Discuss it. Come to me with questions.
Or your provost, they will also know how to answer you. Alright? Good, thank
you.” With that polite dismissal, he spun on his heels and came to Broden.
“What is it?”

“Ash has fallen.”

The blood drained out of Edvard’s face and Broden realized
belatedly that he could probably have phrased that better. “He be recovering,”
he added quickly. “Ashlynn has seen to him and he be resting comfortably in his
own bed. But Edvard, the man be no’ able to work for at least another
fortnight, I think. And our lass be in no’ much better shape than he.”

Edvard scrubbed a tired hand over his face. “I’m overworking
them. I know that. You have a solution?”

“I have an idea of a solution,” Broden corrected.

“I’m seeing with my own eyes how they are first,” Edvard
stated, already moving toward the castle with a ground-eating stride. “We’ll
talk after that.”

It was love of family that had made this man revolt against
his king and set up his own country, as arduous and dangerous an undertaking as
that was. Broden didn’t believe for one second he could stop Edvard from
checking in on his ‘siblings’ so he followed silently in the man’s wake. People
that saw Edvard tried to stop him, but he would politely put them onto someone
else for an answer to whatever question they had, and bulled forward. He
wouldn’t be distracted for more than a second or deterred from his course.

He reached Ash’s rooms in remarkably good time, all things
considered, and stopped in to look at both with critical eyes. Riana hovered
again, fidgeting openly, concerned he would wake them. But Edvard made an
effort to move quietly and both wizards slept through his visit without even
twitching.

Only when he was satisfied that they were resting did he
draw the archers out onto the balcony, the only safe place to talk without
disrupting anyone, and closed the glass doors behind him. “Alright. I see what
you mean about their exhaustion. Broden, you said you had an idea?”

“The lass’s, more like. She made mention a time or two of
the master she and Ash trained with.”

“Gerrard?” Riana asked, tone indicating she knew exactly who
he was referring to. When both men looked at her with mild surprise, she
explained without prompting, “Ash mentioned the same to me. Said if we were of
a mind to recruit, his old master be the first person to contact.”

Edvard rubbed at his chin, brows furrowed as he pondered.
“I’ve never met the man, just heard stories from the twins, but from what I’ve
heard of him, that’s likely the case. Gerrard is one of the premiere wizards of
this age, so good in fact that he founded his own school. It’s part of the
reason why the twins were sent to study under him, as father wouldn’t have any
use but for the very best. That said, he’s also quite the rebel. Some said that
he founded a school because the Council of Wizards wouldn’t let him work on any
governmental projects anymore. He apparently caused quite the scene at one of
them. I’m shaky on the details—it happened when I was very young—but after that
he founded the school and hasn’t left it.”

“It be a good idea, then,” Riana ventured.

“Oh yes, an excellent one. Or would be, if I had any idea of
how to contact the man. None of the magical contact methods will work. He’s too
far away. We’ll have to go the more traditional route and actually send someone
to talk to him. But that’s a dangerous trip. Really, it would take a full guard
of people—which I can’t spare—or a wizard-pairing to make the journey. And
whoever went would have to be fast, because we can’t spare anyone away from
Estole for long.”

Broden saw the problem, but putting this off would only
create more problems, not solve anything. “Edvard. Be there a reason why we
have no’ borrowed Tierone’s wizard to help out?”

“Ah, well, he had a few issues he had to straighten out and
couldn’t spare the man.” Edvard grimaced. “I did ask, I promise you. But I’d
better ask again because I think we need him more than Tierone does at the
moment.” The light entered his eyes as a thought occurred. “If I can get him
over here, that should free up one of the twins to go, wouldn’t it?” 

“Aye,” Broden and Riana agreed at once.

Edvard got that determined look in his eye, one that Broden
recognized well, and he grinned to see it. When Edvard wore
that
expression, then kings trembled, because the man would not be put off by
anything until he got his way. “I’ll talk to him when Ashlynn wakes up. But
which one of you should I send out?”

Broden and Riana shared a speaking look. Both of them were
in rather vital roles, neither could easily step out and go, and yet one of
them had to. Broden was of a mind to say Riana should do it, because he had
gone last time, but it might not be a safe option what with Ash’s magical core
being so low.

Shaking his head, Edvard held up a hand. “Never mind, I
withdraw that question. I need to ask it when all four of you are present and
can talk about it. Alright, I’m going back to the tasks I had lined up for
today. I’ll be in Market Square most of today. Come fetch me when these two are
awake.”

“We will,” Riana promised.